Summary: In this third series entry, Iku continues her training for the Library Defense Force, but a nosy reporter threatens to reveal her secret role to her unknowing family at home. Meanwhile, a museum closing leaves the library forces fighting against government censors for the valuable archives within.

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Summary: Jacelyn is a draki, a race descended from dragons, who can take human form to hide from the hunters that are a constant threat. Jacelyn is encouraged to do a lot of hiding, because she's the first draki in centuries to be able to breathe fire, and her people want her kept around as long as possible. Of course, none of that sits too well with a headstrong teenage girl, and it isn't long before Jacelyn, her mother, and her twin sister Tamra find themselves fleeing the wrath of the other draki in her pride. They take refuge in a small desert town, her mother hoping the heat and dryness will kill off the dragon part of Jace's nature, while Jace desperately searches for a way to keep her draki side alive in the barren environment. She finds it in Will, a boy at her school with whom she shares a strange connection, and who seems to make her draki side come alive--so alive that Jace can barely keep her human disguise around him. The only problem is that Will comes from a family of hunters, and they cannot know about her people's ability to change form...

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Summary: Batman editors collect the greatest stories from over 60 years of publication in this volume. The stories range from early entries all the way up to the present day.

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Summary: Long ago, in the mists of time, someone asked the question of which was cooler: zombies, or unicorns? Out of that heated debate sprang this anthology, a collection of horror, fantasy, and adventure stories from some of the hottest writers of young adult fantasy.

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Summary: Bards is two linked stories: in one, a student researches ancient legends for his final paper, and slowly becomes obsessed with Nairn, the mythic bard who cannot die. In alternating chapters, Nairn's real story is laid out--his rise to fame, his obsession with a forgotten language, and the epic contest whose loss cursed him forever.

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It's been a rough year this year. Part of my posting-problem has been that we have another reading blog going at work: UCPL Book Challenge. Keeping up two blogs has been a challenge, and it may mean more spartan posts for 2011. I've been trying not to just copy and paste my reviews, but I know my posting quality has gone a little downhill this year. Sorry.

Anyway--totals! This year I blew my goals right out of the water. Last year I read 94 books. My goal for this year was to read 100. But I forgot I was in a competitive reading group, and we all know how I respond to competition. So my total for this year was a staggering 136 books! Go me!

I read more, so I have more favorites for this year. I also finished more things, even those I didn't like, so I can actually link to the posts for the worst books of the year! So, without further ado:

The Good:
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The Bad:
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And finally, my reading goals for 2011 (not much right now, but I plan to add to the list):
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Summary: In the distant future, people only see one color--if they can see color at all. As a result, a whole hierarchy has risen from who can see what color, and how much. Edward Russet is a lowly Red, but he has high hopes of advancing his state through marriage into the aristocratic Oxblood family. Before he can, however, he and his father are sent to the tiny village of East Carmine, where nothing is as it seems, or as Eddie expects. As Eddie starts investigating the numerous puzzles in the town, he also starts to fall for Jane, a belligerent Grey with a hidden agenda.

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Summary: Kate Carver is an orphan whose gift for creating lifelike carvings brings down accusations of witchcraft from her superstitious neighbors. Driven from her home, Kate makes a bargain with a passing witch: her shadow in exchange for her heart's desire. But Kate soon lives to regret that pact, as a strange plague sweeps across the countryside, and Kate learns that living without a shadow is not that simple.

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Readalikes: The whimsical, once-upon-a-time tone of the book, combined with these darker elements, left me reminded of The Good Thief, by Hannah Tinti. Knowing how much I enjoyed that book should give you an idea of what I thought of this one.

Summary: A collection of some of XKCD's creator's favorite strips from the beginning of the comic to the present.

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Summary: Mackie Doyle is not human. He looks it, and lives in a human town with a human family, but he's a changeling, left in place of the real Mackie Doyle when he was a baby. But the years of living among the iron of the human world have taken their toll, so when a mysterious stranger appears and tells Mackie he's dying, Mackie believes him. What follows is a journey into the world Mackie should have been part of, two warring courts, and the reason behind all the child deaths the town seems to suffer. But in the end, which side will Mackie choose?

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Readalikes: Holly Black's Tithe and Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely are obvious choices for this. But I was also reminded of Keith Donahue's Stolen Child, which made such a splash in the literary world a few years ago.